JUST CALL US - Health Solutions & The Bra Specialists

Carol Lynn Lucas was employed in a home health care department at her local pharmacy when suddenly, her department closed. Carol Lynn decided at that time to use her experience in the health care industry to start JUST CALL US - Health Solutions Inc. & The Bra Specialists. The company would focus on two areas: compression stockings & garments and mastectomy products, along with the breast prosthesis and full cup bras for the non-mastectomy women. Losing her job in the Home Health Care Department was the push Carol Lynn needed!

When assisting clients while working at the pharmacy, she often felt she was unable to give the customers the counselling and personalized service they required because of the time constraints associated with working in a large company. Mastectomy clients were rushed in and out of the office with little time to council them on support groups or services. Also, clients who needed compression garments often had mobility issues and little was done to facilitate home visits.

Carol Lynn’s biggest challenge was growing her business without a steady paycheck. JUST CALL US - Health Solutions Inc. & The Bra Specialists is a niche business that needed to earn the community’s trust and support. Carol Lynn overcame this hurdle with dedication, perseverance, and lots of networking. Working with CBDC Blue Water and becoming a member of organizations such as the Center for Women in Business, Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Network, and the Military Family Resource Center, allowed Carol Lynn to grow her brand while gaining the community’s confidence.

Carol Lynn found the most important skills for being a successful entrepreneur were mastering a program to track finances and inventory, and patience. Carol Lynn received QuickBooks training through CBDC Blue Water, which allowed her to efficiently manage the company’s finances. She also found patience to be very important. “Nothing comes overnight. Be patient and it will come!” After three years of pounding the pavement, Carol Lynn is finally seeing the return on all of the networking she has done.

The biggest sacrifice of being a successful entrepreneur for Carol Lynn has been giving up time with friends and family. “When you’re an entrepreneur, it’s not just you it affects, it’s your family as well”. This is why it’s so important to have the support of friends and family when you are running a business. If given the chance to go back and do things differently, Carol Lynn would have been more involved with the financial side of the business from the beginning. It is important to know every aspect of your business, if you are not comfortable with it, learn it!

CBDC Blue Water has helped Carol Lynn be successful by providing financial assistance for start-up, business counselling, and connecting her with networking and training opportunities. “I know that they’re there to help me succeed. CBDC Blue Water lent us money but they also helped give us confidence. They believe in us”.